


Scrambling

by NYCScribbler



Category: Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:23:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYCScribbler/pseuds/NYCScribbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Siegfried and Leopold run into complications on a quest, it's up to the ladies to save the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scrambling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geri_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geri_chan/gifts).



"Remind me again what the plan was," Siegfried said.

"I draw the dragon out with quick strikes and disparaging things about his mother. Once we have room to dodge, we both attack him in turn while Hilde launches arrows from behind the ridge," Leopold recited. "Once we've defeated the dragon, one of us takes the helmet and the other one takes the sword so neither of us can claim the throne and we can help the rightful heir defeat the usurper."

"That was what I thought." Siegfried squirmed in the grip of the rock outcroppings that had grown out of the cave walls at the dragon's command, though he had long since determined it would take more strength than even he had to break them.

Next to him, Leopold glowered down at the dragon. "All right, there may have been some flaws in the plan, but neither of us realized that the dragon was actually a shape-shifting wizard with elemental powers, not just an evil beast looking to do evil for the sake of evil." He would have shrugged, but the rock that pinned his arms made it impossible for him to move. "I just hope Hilde got away all right... didn't do something stupid like try to fight the dragon by herself... don’t try to look at me like that, she's _your_ aunt."

"You know her better than I do- and don't even say what I know you're thinking. Most of the times I saw her before you came along, she was asleep," Siegfried pointed out.

"That's not what I meant. All I was trying to say was that heroism runs in the family."

"Hah. You've not met my parents, then."

The note of bitterness in Siegfried's voice, so unlike his usual manner, was enough of a hint for Leopold to drop the line of conversation. They hung there in silence for a long time, watching shadows lengthen across the mouth of the cave as the sun passed unseen overhead.

Finally, Leopold broke the silence. "I don't want to be an alarmist, but are your feet feeling very, very heavy too?"

Siegfried nodded. Casting his gaze down as much as he could, he asked, "Were your boots gray when we left this morning?"

"No, they were brown." Leopold said a few things that made even Siegfried's ears burn. "So. On top of the dragon secretly being a shapeshifting wizard with elemental powers, he's either put a very cruel spell of confusion on the both of us, or we're slowly turning to stone. Do you have any other suggestions?"

"That we should find a way out of here as soon as possible. If only I still had the mirror- but we left the packs by the ridge."

Surprisingly, that made Leopold look somewhat more cheerful. "There you have it! Surely Hilde will use that to bring help, and we'll be out of here before you can say 'knife'!" he exclaimed.

 

"Knife."

"Stop _saying_ that!"

 

And then there was a cold, still silence in the cave, broken only by the rustling of the dragon's scales against the cave floor.

 

Fire blazed bright against the pale blue sky, hotter and brighter than even the noon sun, as the firebird arrowed towards the cave. "This way!" she trilled, though her words were lost in the rush of wind from her fiery wings.

"I see you, little one!" Beryl called back. "Hold tight, Your Majesty, Lady Brunnhilde!"

"Hurry! The battle has begun!" Brunnhilde shouted, pointing below, where the evil dragon did battle with a single warrior in bright armor.

"That's not either of our husbands. Where are they?" Rosa fretted.

"Defeat the dragon first, worry about the men when we have time for it," Brunnhilde said.

"No offense, Beryl," Rosa added quickly.

Beryl rumbled with laughter. "I take no exception. That down there is no true dragon. I can smell the stink of his evil magic from here. Be ready to jump on my signal! One... two... three!"

"Thank you!" Rosa shouted as Beryl coasted down for a landing and she and Brunnhilde leaped from Beryl's back. They immediately split up and launched the plan of attack that they had worked out on the way to the cave. Brunnhilde ran straight at the dragon with a wild battle cry, her sword shining silver and her armor glittering gold. Rosa ducked behind the ridge and reached into the large bag she had brought with her to start throwing whatever she could as a distraction, always making sure to stay under cover. Meanwhile, the firebird darted in and out of the melee, blinding the dragon with her bright fire and staying well out of range of his breath.

By unspoken agreement, the stranger and Brunnhilde took different sides of the attack. Brunnhilde, able to move more quickly in her chain mail, essayed the more difficult attacks at the dragon's softer parts, jabbing and thrusting to weaken and anger him. The stranger, wearing heavy plate armor and carrying a blank shield, preferred the frontal approach. The shield had to have been magic, for no matter how many times the stranger whipped it up to counter a searing blast of dragonfire, it remained sturdy and strong in a way that no mere mortal shield could have. His sword scraped away great swathes of the dragon's ebon scales and struck deep into the muscle; ichor oozed from several of the wounds, hissing as it hit the ground.

Suddenly, the dragon threw his head back and bellowed in furious rage. The air writhed and twisted, shimmering so that Rosa felt her stomach churning; whatever was happening in that haze, it was not natural. Brunnhilde and the stranger backed away, blades at guard, as they waited to see what would happen next.

At last, the air resolved into the hunched form of a man in black, holding a staff that was capped with a glowing red orb. His eyes were wide with hate and madness, and the air around him crackled with power. Even if Rosa hadn't been trained in the ways of the Tradition, she would have recognized him as an Evil Wizard. He began to cackle. "So! At last you come and face me, hiding behind the skirts of a Drachenthaler slattern! But what else could I expect from one such as you?"

"I am a shieldmaiden of Vallahalia! I've fought all my life- how dare you-"

"Don't let him get to you, my lady. His words mean nothing. They're the last desperate gasps of an evil fiend that knows he's defeated," the stranger assured Brunnhilde.

"Desperate gasps! Say, rather, your doom!"

"Doom? No, thank you! I've been there and laughed in its face," Brunnhilde said, and she charged at the wizard with a cry of "Hoyotoho!"

Mockingly, the wizard pointed his staff at her and spoke a word that caused bile to rise in the back of Rosa's throat just from having to hear it. Crimson light streamed from it, and Brunnhilde dodged with a warrior's agility. The tree behind her burst into flame and crumbled into ashes in two blinks of an eye, and the battle was again joined.

There were two fighters, and the wizard was hard-pressed to keep track of them both; when he turned to attack Brunnhilde, the stranger came at him, and when the wizard turned to face that threat, Brunnhilde struck at him. The firebird dove down, and whether it was the heat or the holiness of her flame that made him draw away from her, no one could be sure, only that she drove him towards the blades of Brunnhilde and the stranger with the inexorability of fate.

All of that, and yet he would still have defeated them- if Rosa hadn't nailed him in the back of the head with a large rock. As he turned to face the new threat, screaming in a language no human tongue was meant to mimic, Brunnhilde and the stranger both struck, the stranger's blade cleaving his head from his shoulders as Brunnhilde thrust her sword through his chest. Just for good measure, the firebird seet herself on the pieces of the corse and set them alight; there was a thin screaming, as of a viol inexpertly played, and a green flare in the flames before they burned out and left only ashes on the ground.

"Thanks," the stranger said, not sounding terribly grateful.

"It was an honor to fight beside you. What's your name? I'm Brunnhilde- Princess Brunnhilde Wotansdatter of Falkenreid, but those who fight beside me call me Hilde."

The stranger hesitated before speaking. "I am Adrian, rightful heir to the throne of Beau Soleil."

Rosa's brows drew together in thought as she came out from the rock ridge that had sheltered her during the battle. To her surprise, the stranger immediately gave her a deep bow, though one that seemed a bit unpracticed. "Your Majesty!" he said. "Marriage has done well by you- you are even more beautiful than I remember from my brief time in your kingdom."

"Ah- you were one of the contestants?"

Adrian looked away and gave a sheepish half-smile. "I was... disqualified... before the contests got underway."

Rosa snapped her fingers at the memory. "The prince who was a princess!" she exclaimed.

"In body only, never in spirit- but the flesh was enough. But enough of that. The sword and helm of my fathers wait in the cave for the rightful heir of the line of Beau Soleil. My people have labored too long under the tyrant for me to wait any longer." Adrian strode forward, into the cave, and Brunnhilde and Rosa followed, the firebird hovering above them to illuminate the shadows.

"Leo!" Brunnhilde called into the darkness, but the only sound that answered her was the echo of her voice in the depths of the cave. "LEO!"

"Siegfried!" Rosa shouted, but she too heard only the echo of her call.

Suddenly Adrian stopped, causing Brunnhilde and Rosa to crash into each other as they stopped short. "Your Majesty... my lady Hilde... I don't think this is a good sign."

"I think that's an understatement," Rosa said through the lump in her throat. The firebird's flame threw off reflections from gold, jewels, and steel stolen by the wizard- and shed bright light on the life-size statues that lined the walls. Rosa picked out Siegfried immediately, and from the scream of rage that pierced the heavy air of the cave, she knew Brunnhilde had likewise found Leopold.

"I'm sorry, my ladies," Adrian said.

"I don't understand... among my people the death of the magic-worker ends all the spells they've cast," Brunnhilde said, raking fingers through her golden hair as she tried to figure out what to do next.

"This wizard may have known about the T- tendency of that to happen and left safeguards in place," Rosa said, stumbling over mention of the Tradition. "But I know someone who may be able to help."

"Then call them, Your Majesty, for I don't know what more we can do," Adrian said.

Rosa reached into the sack slung across her hip and took out a small hand mirror. "Sylvie! Please, find Godmother Lily as fast as you can and tell her- tell her-"

"Right away!" Sylvie interrupted before Rosa could even try to explain what had happened. The little green face disappeared from the mirror's surface.

A few moments later, Lily's face appeared. "My poor dear! No wonder why Sylvie came to me straightaway! What's happened?" she asked.

"It's Siegfried- better that you see-" Rosa said, turning the mirror towards the statues in the cave.

Lily said several things that burned Rosa's ears to hear. "And there are no wells to dip from? No tin dipper to prove your worth?"

"No. Godmother, isn't there anything you can do?"

Slowly, Lily shook her head. "I don't dare leave Eltaria with you and Siegfried both out of the country. It would be too tempting for an evil magician to jump in while the kingdom was defenseless. What I can do is ask for help from another Godmother, and I'll do that straightaway. She'll be there soon, dear heart. Hold on. We'll make sure that you keep your happy ending."

With that, Lily's face winked out of the mirror, leaving Rosa feeling very alone, even with Brunnhilde and Adrian.

"Well?" Brunnhilde demanded, hands on her hips.

"She's not coming- but she's sending help. I don't know when it'll be here, but someone will be here. They're going to be all right. Everything's going to be all right." Rosa forced her voice to take on some of her father's authoritative tones and some of the utter certainty her mother had projected. Everything was going to be all right because there were no other options.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity until there was a rush of winter wind, stiff yet bracing, harsh and cold and real, and a ringing of bells outside the cave. Rosa ran out and looked. A grand carriage, decked in rich crimson, waited in the clearing outside the cave, with a white horse at its head and a vision in crimson lace and tulle within. "Queen Rosamund, I presume?" the woman in the carriage asked, and her face had the ageless beauty of the true Fae, and about her was an air of wisdom and maturity that Rosa envied. It was so powerful that-

Rosa blinked, looking _through_ the magic as Lily had trained her. The carriage was a simple sleigh; the gleaming white stallion was a plain gray horse; the Godmother was a young woman, barely older than Rosa, with a round face and dark hair tied back in a neat braid. "Godmother," Rosa said, aware that she'd spent too long staring quietly.

The Godmother smiled. "My name is Klara, though I'm known as the Crimson Fairy. Godmother Lily sent me to save your prince."

"King," Rosa corrected with a hint of acerbity. Siegfried had worked hard to earn her hand.

Klara smiled at her. "They're always your prince, no matter what else they are to you. Walk with me? I find it refreshing to be around someone who can see through the illusion and would rather not put up with the rigamarole."

Rosa nodded and set a brisk pace into the cave. To her surprise, Klara was able to keep up- but she looked a little more closely at Klara and noticed a haze around the Godmother's feet. It seemed like a waste of magic, but time was of the essence.

"Rosamund- are you- who is she?" Brunnhilde demanded as soon as Klara and Rosa reached the heart of the cave.

"I am the Crimson Fairy," Klara answered. "Beau Soleil has long been without the protection of a Godmother, and I am truly sorry for what has befallen the kingdom because of it. That will no longer be the case. Your Highness-" she inclined her head to Adrian- "I'm here to help. I may need your help to do it."

"Gladly, Godmother," Adrian said. "It's been a long time since a Godmother has come to Beau Soleil, but I've heard the tales. What can I do?"

"Let me study the situation before I give you an answer." Klara walked forward and studied the statues against the walls of the cave. Rosa took a couple of steps closer to Brunnhilde out of a need for sympathy, and Brunnhilde put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"This will take a lot of magic," Klara said after a long few moments. "But what has been done can always be undone. All curses, all spells, all magic- all of them have to have an ending. The work of this wizard is no exception. I'll need help from all of you. Close your eyes and repeat the following words: I give this magic freely and of my own will..."

Klara led them through the words of the ritual, and Rosa shivered as she felt the faint tendrils of the Tradition's lingering magic unwrap themselves from her and drift towards Klara's staff. Like colored haze in the air, she saw them unwinding from around Brunnhilde and Adrian as well- the thinnest of threads from Brunnhilde, bright ropes from Adrian. And there was another source like a pillar of sunlight, but Rosa couldn't see where it was coming from.

Klara drew in the magic until the staff was so bright that Rosa had to look away. The Godmother turned towards the statues that lined the wall and began to speak in a voice full of Tradition and power, intoning the words of a spell that shook even the solid stone of the cave to the roots of the earth. The light around her staff grew brighter and brighter until it filled the cave with a rushing noise like a high wind and a roaring flame.

"-Let all be put to its proper place, let all flesh return to proper shape!" Klara finished, and the cave erupted in white fire that burned cool against bare skin.

A chorus of groaning was the first hint that the spell had worked. Rosa ran through the assembled crowd in the cave until she found Siegfried and hugged him tight. "This is the last time you're going on a quest without me," she told him.

Leopold, for his part, threaded hs way through the crowd until he found Brunnhilde. No words were exchanged, though that was as much from the death glare that Brunnhilde leveled at him. He raised his hands in silent surrender, and she kissed him hard.

In the hubbub and chaos, one voice was difficult to hear, but everyone saw the firebird drifting down towards Klara, her wings dull orange and her crest dim. "I don't feel so well," she said, settling down into the curve of Klara's neck, on her shoulder.

"You didn't-" Klara started.

"Freely given, Godmother," the firebird said, and she slept on the Godmother's shoulder.

"Godmother? Is the firebird all right?" Adrian asked- but Adrian's voice was strange and thick, and something seemed uncomfortable about the heavy plate armor.

"She'll be fine. Firebirds are quite resilient- but what of you, Princess?"

Adrian laughed. "I don't think that's an appropriate title anymore, Godmother. 'Let all flesh return to proper shape.' And my flesh has always been the wrong shape... would that you had managed this before the contest of Eltaria, because then I could have competed for the hand of the lovely Rosamund."

Klara looked stricken, but when she moved to help remove Adrian's armor, she saw the changes clearly. The princess was now, undeniably, a prince. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Stop apologizing. I never wanted to be a princess anyway. Now I can wield Durandal properly and truly wear the helm of Orlando. You'll have to trust that this is my happy ending, Godmother. Now, will you help me claim the throne that is mine by blood?"

Klara nodded. "And I think you'll have some grateful allies if you choose to accept them," she said, gesturing at the other princes who had been freed from the spell.

"Then let's get to it."

But when Adrian looked to Siegfried and Leopold, they shook their heads. "I've had enough adventure," Siegfried said.

"You seem to have a handle on things," Leopold said.

"Would you accept our hospitality again for some time?" Rosa asked.

"Yes, we would," Brunnhilde said before Leopold could answer. "But how do you propose to return?"

Rosa nodded. "Then you'll have the hospitality of the crown of Eltaria. Just... Leo, how do you feel about dragons right now?"


End file.
